


wolfsblood

by newisalwaysbetter



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ambiguous/Open Ending, F/M, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Magic, Werewolf!Flynn, Witchcraft, animal injury, blood mention, forced caretaking, nudity mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24578329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newisalwaysbetter/pseuds/newisalwaysbetter
Summary: "What she sees makes her gasp and look away. Not because the man lying on the other side is bleeding heavily into the grass, but because he’s fully nude."
Relationships: Garcia Flynn/Lucy Preston
Comments: 3
Kudos: 28





	wolfsblood

Sunset is beginning to leach across the horizon by the time Lucy begins to hike home.

Her cottage, perched precariously on the razor edge of an encroaching wilderness, is more isolated than Lucy generally prefers; but on days when the next chapter of her book won’t shake loose from her head, a walk through the shivering woods is exactly what she needs.

Besides the early-season chill raising the hairs on her neck, it could be any evening in southern California in the last five decades, and the late-autumn sunlight stirs memories as surely as leaves on the wind. Her father had loved nature with a dilettante’s wonder, and his lessons are in every sight: the shattered slate lining the river path, the deer-trail leading east, the thornbrush speckled with blood…

The pebbles scrape beneath her feet as she comes to a sudden stop.

The thought of ignoring it and hurrying home arises and is quickly dismissed. There’s too much blood there for her to unsee. With her heart shuddering up her throat, Lucy stands on tiptoe to glance over the impenetrable thornbush, and into the meadow beyond. 

What she sees makes her gasp and look away. Not because the man lying on the other side is bleeding heavily into the grass, but because he’s fully nude.

In the time it takes her to cross the thicket, everything has changed.

For a moment, Lucy thinks she must have misseen, or hallucinated, because there’s nothing left of the man before. In his place is an enormous, heaving heap of bloody fur. Powerful legs kick and scrabble at the dirt.

Lucy holds very still. She’s never seen a wolf in the wild, certainly not here in California, but this animal cannot be anything else; particularly when there’s a heavy, wet breath, and the head lifts, exposing a furry face and a panting mouth.

They eye each other, woman and wolf.

Then Lucy lifts one trembling hand, open and ready, and whispers, “Let me see you?”

Those pale eyes flash.

Then the body goes limp, and the transformation begins. He’s tormented, writhing, and there’s a sound that’s half-human, half-feral, but like a miracle, she finds herself facing down a naked pile of man, again. Which is no less dangerous, but perhaps easier to deal with.

He’s utterly limp as she approaches, however, and there’s only a faint stirring as she fastens her scarf around his waist. “That’s it…that’s it…” She cups his sweaty face as he snuffles, praying he’ll stay out for the moment. “Just stay with me. Let’s get you home.”

The man grunts faintly when she situates him in her bathtub, and his hazy eyes flicker open. “I’m sorry,” she whispers, and slides a hand under his drooping bangs to feel his forehead. It’s warm. “You’re not going to like this.”

The showerhead is angled so the spray doesn’t hit his face, but the first blast of water is still cold. She steps back, rolling up her sleeves, as he thrashes, long limbs striking the tub and walls. There’s a ragged howl that turns to a whimper as she heats the spray. 

He paws at her with overlong nails, and Lucy catches his wrists in her hands. He whines through his teeth, which–now that she sees up close–are abnormally long and sharp. “You need to stay calm,” she enunciates, holding eye contact fiercely. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m a friend.”

“You’re–” His head thrashes from side to side, as if just realizing his location. “No hospital…” There’s an accent there she can’t quite identify. Something Eastern European.

That draws a shaky smile, and a cocked eyebrow out of her. “Trust me, I don’t want to see what a hospital makes of _you…_ ”

“I can’t be here,” he hisses, and begins attempting to struggle to his feet. “When the police come, I can’t…they can’t find me.”

“I haven’t called the police,” Lucy snaps. “I understand it’s a lot, right now.” She’s trying to restrain him, but he’s too strong, and yanks away as he stands, splattering water across the room. “I understand, just–would you look past your fever for one second and listen, please–I know you’re a wolf!”

 _That_ stops him short. 

Lucy faces down the dripping giant standing awkwardly in her shower, still holding her soaked scarf over his waist, and takes a deep breath. “You’re safe here. No one is going to find you.”

“You’re not police,” the man repeats stupidly, his eyes narrowed.

“No. You’re stuck with me. I’m sorry.” She’s surprised to find she really means it. “Now, please–” brandishing the washcloth– “let me clean you up, and get you lying down.”

He stares at her for a long moment. “Your name,” he says finally.

She gives him a look that says, _Really?_

But he nods at her, frowning, and she shrugs. “Lucy?”

He nods jerkily, looking away. And then, finally, steps into her arms.

It’s nearly an hour later that she has him propped up on her couch, draped in blankets and cradling an oversized mug of herbal tea. Of course Lucy owns nothing remotely close to fitting a man of this size, so he’s tied towels around himself to hide as much as possible. Lucy had found herself gently drying his dark hair, and now it sticks up messily around the part. He looks disheveled and sleepy, less like a wolf and more like a puppy she’s brought in from the cold. He can’t stop shaking.

“How did you get me here?” he rasps. Lucy jumps. Since asking her name, he hasn’t spoken a word for the past hour. “Did anyone help you? I mean, does anyone else know about me?”

She spares him a look, before returning to the windows. As the sun sets, it’s important that she gets the curtains and windowpanes open. “I brought you here under my own power. You’re fine.”

“How?” There’s a mirthless laugh that turns into a cough. “No offense, but you’re not exactly a bodybuilder.”

“I have my ways.”

“Is that why you’re not afraid of me?”

_…Oh._

Lucy Preston looks up a moment too soon, the last violet flashes of magic sinking from her eyes. From the way the werewolf’s eyes widen, she knows his keen ears have picked up the high trilling vibration of her protective wards descending around the house. “Should I be?”

He snarls. “Witch.”

“Not my favorite thing to be called, but.” Lucy sighs, crossing to the armchair across from the couch. “You can lower your hackles.” She resists the urge to conjure a little vodka into her tea. It’s going to be a long night. “You’re Garcia Flynn, right?” His silence all but confirms it. “I haven’t called anyone; and I won’t, until I hear your side of the story.”

“You’ve heard about me,” Flynn says through his teeth.

“Rumors. I assume you have your own version.”

Flynn nods shakily. With his knuckles going white on the cup and his shoulders hunched up under the afghan, he looks less vicious than the rumors had implied. Prickly, certainly, but that’s hardly surprising.

“I hardly know where to start,” he confesses in a whisper.

“Well, you’re pretty far south for a werewolf.” Lucy crosses her legs, and takes a long sip from her teacup. “Why don’t we start with that?”

Those pale eyes watch her for a distrustful minute over the cherrywood coffee table. Lucy gazes back, her magic thrumming in the air between them.

Then, with a gentle breath of concession, she lets it drop.

And in a dark, rasping voice, Flynn begins to tell his story.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Fanart] Inktober 2019 Day 4: Freeze](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24583213) by [UnUnpredictableMe (DraejonSoul)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DraejonSoul/pseuds/UnUnpredictableMe)




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